Book Blogger Love-a-thon interview.

Hello bloggers! I decided to participate in the Book Blogger Love-a-thon and we had to do a interview swap. I was linked to Candice from The grown-up YA. This is my first interview and it was fun to do! I was also interviewed, so head over to her blog to find out more about me! :). Let's go on to the interview:Hello Candice, I'm happy to have you here on my blog! Tell us something more about yourself in 5 words.

About you.I know this is always impossible, but pick 5 books you absolutely love.
-Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married - seriously, I fangirl over this book at least once a week on my blog.
-Forever Princess - If there is a more perfect ending to a series, I don't know what it could be.
-Saving Francesca - this book totally hit home for me.
-The Book Thief - I listened to this on audio during my commute to work (bout an hour each way). When I got towards the end I was ugly crying going down the interstate!
-A Doll's House - not a book, but a play. Seriously one of the most perfectly troubling things I've ever read. Oh! And this doesn't count because I haven't finished it, but Gone With the Wind. As a Southerner (I'm from the area where the book is set) I feel like this is a staple for me and I am SO loving it!

I am also a huge fan of The book thief. I try to re-read it every year!

What are your hobbies besides reading and blogging?
I'm starting to get involved in the community, volunteering and such. I like doing crafty things and cooking (when my house is clean enough to do both of these!). I also love writing. I participated in NaNoWriMo last November, which was stressful, tearful, and completely wonderful, and have also written a few other things, one that has gotten a few nibbles from literary agents!

I see you have "Featured Fairy Tales" on your blog. What is your favorite fairytale and why?
Hands down, the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It was actually the first Featured Fairy Tale I did and had SO MUCH fun writing it! It's always stuck out to me as being a different story, probably because there was no princess that needed to be saved by the handsome prince. In fact, in the original tale, the princesses just wanted to go dance and be free to live their lives their own way.

About the blog.What made you decide to start blogging?
I got into YA literature several years ago after reading Twilight - I wanted more! I then stumbled upon Forever Young Adult, a blog that is seriously awesome, and really got into following the ladies who run it. They had such awesome tastes in books! I decided that I wanted a website, but didn't know what I wanted to do; I just wanted something! I'd had blogs in the past, but didn't really do much with them. So after a few failed attempts at general blogging, I decided to start a book blog. I immediately fell in love with talking about all the great books I'd read, finding new blogs to follow and meeting new friends.

How did you come up with the name?
Ha honestly... I don't know. I think when I first started it I was going through a "I'm a grown up?" phase, despite being in my late 20s at the time (just turned 30, yikes!). It kind of became a joke, friends and I saying "Well, I guess I'll be a grown up and not do this." That's where "The Grown-Up" part of my blog's name came from. I also think I'm still a young adult... meaning I'm a real adult, but am still relatively young in the grand scheme of things... so it's kind of a play on that. Hence, The Grown-Up YA was born!

What is your best blogging experience so far?
Hands down, Meg Cabot following me on Twitter. I mean, it's Meg freakin Cabot! Although I guess that's more of a Twitter experience, so here's a blogging experience. Well, two, because they're equally best!

The first best blogging experience is starting The Selective Collective with 6 other AMAZING bloggers. We're a group that collectively reviews upcoming books each month and does all sorts of fun stuff with it (author interviews, discussions, etc). Working with these ladies has just been fabulous and I love them all to pieces, despite having never met them! To quote Anne Shirley, we're kindred spirits, bosom friends. Coming together over a common love with people is one of the best feelings ever and I blame it completely on having my blog. These are my go-to gals for not only books but boy troubles, funny stories, dreams, and work complaints. They are, simply, the best!

Second best blogging experience is that moment you realize you've written a truly stunning review. It's happened twice for me and every time I think about those reviews or reread them, I get the same wonderful satisfaction I did when I first wrote it. These two reviews are my review of The Book Thief and my review of Saving Francesca. Definitely a wonderful experience writing these!

Yay for the Book Thief love! I'm now VERY curious and excited about your fairy tale feature so I'm definitely going to check it out. And that moment when you write a review you KNOW is just beautiful and you put all of your heart into it, that's amazing. Loved the interview :) And lovely getting to know Candice!

Yay cooking! Wohoo. Definitely one of my favorite hobbies as well. I'm afraid I haven't read The Book Thief, but since you gals love it so much, I think I should give it a try. It's so fun to meet bloggers I haven't met before. I'm gonna head on to Candice's blog. Thanks so much, Mel! I hope you have a lovely weekend, girl! ;) x

Why weren't you featured on her blog? :( I want to know more about you Mel! What are YOUR favorite books, and authors, and blogging moments and book boyfriends?!? What do you HATE to see in books and what do you LOVE? You know I noticed the other day that no two signatures of yours are the same (or at least I haven't seen a repeat yet) and I think that is awesome!!!

I just checked out the audiobook of The Book Thief and I also read on my commute.. now I am scared of ugly crying but glad I was warned! And I know that feeling of pride when you write a great review! BEST FEELING EVER!

She IS featured, I promise!!!! I'm just... er... late. Real life, man... real life. BUT she had some great things to say and I loved getting to know a little bit about Mel AND find a fabulous new blog! :)

I'm happy that it's on the blog. I will edit the text tomorrow Candice. It was great to meet you and Nicole, I will answer those questions later! :D I don't have a computer around and typing on my cell is hard!